The goals of a telepresence system is to create a simulated representation of a remote location to a user such that the user feels he or she is actually present at the remote location, and to create a simulated representation of the user at the remote location. The goal of a real-time telepresence system to is to create such a simulated representation in real time. That is, the simulated representation is created for the user while the telepresence device is capturing images and sounds at the remote location. The overall experience for the user of a telepresence system is similar to video-conferencing, except that the user of the telepresence system is able to remotely change the viewpoint of the video capturing device.
Most research efforts in the field of telepresence to date have focused on the role of the human visual system and the recreation of a visually compelling ambience of remote locations. The human aural system and the techniques for recreating the aural ambience of remote locations, on the other hand, have been largely ignored. The lack of a system and method for recreating the aural ambience of remote locations can significantly diminish the immersiveness of the telepresence experience.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a system and method for audio telepresence.